A Japanese Kakiemon Porcelain Dish, Late 17th or Early 18th Century.
A Kakiemon porcelain flower shaped dish, Kakiemon kilns c.1680 – 1720. The fluted form with typical Kakiemon colours depicts a boy who is perhaps catching birds by using a lure.
SOLD
- Condition
- In perfect condition.
- Size
- Diameter : 15 cm (5 3/4 inches)
- Provenance
- De-acquisitioned from an American Museum.
- Stock number
- 24494
- References
- A Kakiemon porcelain dish of this shape and design, rather rubbed and dated to the early 18th century is illustrated in : Japanese Export Porcelain, Catalogue of the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Oliver Impey, Hotei Publishing, Amsterdam,2002) page 154, plate 225. Impey states that "It seems likely that this is a depiction of bird-catching, and that the perched bird is a lure".
Photos
Information
A dish, somewhat worn, of this pattern which has been dated to the early 18th century is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Oliver Impey states that "It seems likely that this is a depiction of bird-catching, and that the perched bird is a lure" (Japanese Export Porcelain, Catalogue of the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Oliver Impey, Hotei Publishing, Amsterdam,2002 page 154, plate 225).
Kakiemon Porcelain :
Kakiemon decoration is usually of high quality, often delicate and with well-balanced asymmetric designs. The designs were normally quite sparse emphasizing the fine white porcelain body known in Japan as Nigoshide (milky white). The opaque white milky Nigoshide body was used on the finest pieces, it appears that it was reserved for fine quality enamelled decoration. Kakiemon porcelain was decorated with a great variety of imaginative designs which include elements such as the `banded hedge`, `flying squirrel`, and the `Quail and Millet` design. The `Three Friends of Winter` were also a very popular group of designs, other subject taken from nature include flowers (especially the chrysanthemum, the national flower of Japan) as well as birds and rock-work. Figural subjects such as the `Hob in the Well` were also popular. This design illustrates a Chinese folk tale where a sage saves his friend who has fallen into a large fish-bowl by throwing stones at it, braking open the pot. Banded-Hedges were a formal device within Japanese traditional gardens, they were often incorporated in designs, includes `The Three Friends of Winter` (Pine, Bamboo and Prunus). These three plants signify perseverance, as neither the pine nor the bamboo shed their leaves in winter and the plumb (Prunus) flowers at the very end of the winter, heralding the arrival of spring.
Nigoshide Body :
The Nigoshide (milky white) body was a new whiter porcelain body introduced between about 1660 - 1680, solely for use on Kakiemon Wares. Indeed the Kakiemon Palette evolved at the same time. It has recently been proposed that the Nigoshide Body is not a new body at all, rather it is just made from a clay that has been levigated and washed more thoroughly.